Hi CLW, This seems like an extension of the rebirth thread and I expect this discourse may belong there. I have been thinking about this issue of late though. Not because it is an important aspect of my own personal contemplation but because it seems to come up for friends of mine who tend to think ...

Hi all, I am very taken with the Achaan Cha quote which was posted twice in this thread. What I would like to contribute is that I think the "not self" teaching clearly puts our experience and our views into an appropriate perspective so that we can develop the conditions which bring an end to suffe...

Hello jakartaguytebet, Here is how I understand karma. Karma is action which is tinged by the ignorance of separateness of self in beings and things. The way we understand existence and non existence is directly informed by our ignorance and it is very hard to discern this. There are effects which k...

One other thing I noticed was this. o Buddhists allow negative thoughts to flow, but are mindful not to act on them so as to break bad habits and increase good karma. This is not necessarily the case. Buddhist also make an effort to avoid and stop "negative" thinking. Allowing negative thoughts woul...

Hi Annie, I have two thoughts on what you have put together. 1)You Refer to "Clergy" as only monks and Nuns. This is not correct. There are a wide variety of official designations within the various traditions of Buddhism even within the Theravada which this chat board is aligned with. 2) I think it...

A freind of mine wrote this book and I avoided reading it for quite a while. I have tended to be averse to Nietzche for completely uninformed and rather ignorant reasons. I have enjoyed it a lot and I think anyone who is interested in a comparative analysis of this philosopher and early Buddhist tea...

The question of whether or not there is a real world out there requires us to have a working definition of "real". To be honest I'm not clear on how I understand it. If we look at the translated quote "This, monks, is called the All. Anyone who would say, 'Repudiating this All, I will describe anoth...

And of course there is "transcendental dependent arising": http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=11701 :anjali: Mike Hi Mike, I read that thread and I don't know if this is the right place to bring this up. That thread was closed. I have always been interested in the Canki sutta http://ww...

Hello all How many of you guys believe in ghosts, devas, and brahmas? Do you think it's a must to believe in these supernatural deities in order to be a practitioner of Buddhism? Can it hinders the progress in meditation? Hello Past is Dead, It depends on what you mean by "believe". I believe that ...

"This is to be done by one skilled in aims who wants to break through to the state of peace:" ... "Be capable, upright, & straightforward, easy to instruct, gentle, & not conceited," ... "Think: Happy, at rest, may all beings be happy at heart. Whatever beings there may be, weak or strong, without e...

Please note that the people live in western countries have the legal protection against discrimination. Third world countries such as India and Sri Lanka do not have legal protection for discrimination. The Outcast people of India have extensive legal protections on paper thanks to Ambedker who wro...

Ambedkerite Buddhists in India do not accept that a persons cast is the result of Karma. They see Karma as only one of many possible forces as play in a result coming about. They see good Karma as tending to support good results and bad Karma bad results but only in relationship to a number of other...

When I need help I speak to a friend, one I trust who is kind and perhaps a bit wiser than I am. If I need advise about practice I read scriptures stories and commentaries from Buddhist tradition. If I need specific practice advise I find someone who's practice is more mature than my own and enter i...

For me Historical accuracy is but one factor in confidence. Another factor is that the Buddhist Tradition as a whole Mahayana or Theravada has given rise to Awakened beings Like: Tsong kappa, Nagarjuna, Dipa Ma, Milarepa, Sariputra, Achaan Cha, Padmasambahava, Pema Chodron, Buddhadasa, Atisha, Buddh...

I think that while anger and dislike are similar in some degree ( both push away or reject something ), dislike is less harmful than anger. So in the sense of gradual path, isn't it possible to use dislike of defilements and laziness in a positive way? Hi Alex, It is possible that using the word "d...